UC Blogs

Monarchs: you can't save them all.
It was a dismal year in Vacaville (and other parts of California) for monarch-rearing. Of the 10 caterpillars we collected from milkweed in our pollinator garden in early September and tried to rear, only eight made...

A monarch chrysalis that didn't make it. This image was taken Sept. 15. Said Art Shapiro of UC Davis: "The intersegmental membranes are showing. Whatever caused that, it opens the door to severe water loss, so the pupa will probably die." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch chrysalis that didn't make it. This image was taken Sept. 15. Said Art Shapiro of UC Davis: "The intersegmental membranes are showing. Whatever caused that, it opens the door to severe water loss, so the pupa will probably die." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is what the non-viable monarch chrysalis looked like on Oct. 10. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is what the non-viable monarch chrysalis looked like on Oct. 10. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Entomology, or the scientific study of insects, is not just rural--it's urban, too.
Think bed bugs, cockroaches, carpet beetles and pantry pests, among others.
Those are some of the critters you'll learn about if you attend the Bohart Museum of...

Karey Windbiel-Rojas of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM), plans to wear this cockroach costume to the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Sunday, Nov. 18, when she will greet visitors and answer questions. An urban entomologist expert, she's the associate director for Urban and Community IPM who serves as the area urban IPM advisor for Yolo, Sacramento and Solano counties.

Karey Windbiel-Rojas of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM), plans to wear this cockroach costume to the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Sunday, Nov. 18, when she will greet visitors and answer questions. An urban entomologist expert, she's the associate director for Urban and Community IPM who serves as the area urban IPM advisor for Yolo, Sacramento and Solano counties.

Pantry pests include booklice, pictured here in cornmeal. These nearly microscopic insects, Liposcelis bostrychophila, or "psocids" (pronounced "so kids"), are common pests in stored grains. They're usually unseen because they're about a millimeter long--about the size of a speck of dust--and are transparent to light brown in color. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Pantry pests include booklice, pictured here in cornmeal. These nearly microscopic insects, Liposcelis bostrychophila, or "psocids" (pronounced "so kids"), are common pests in stored grains. They're usually unseen because they're about a millimeter long--about the size of a speck of dust--and are transparent to light brown in color. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

For the last three decades, he's been searching for the "The Spirit of the Hive."
That would be world-renowned honey bee geneticist Robert Eugene (“Rob”) Page Jr., the 2018 recipient of the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni...

What's going on in the hive? World-renowned honey bee geneticist Robert Eugene “Rob” Page Jr., the 2018 recipient of the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will speak on "In Search of the Spirit of the Hive: a 30-Year Quest"--at 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 29 in the International House, 10 College Park, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What's going on in the hive? World-renowned honey bee geneticist Robert Eugene “Rob” Page Jr., the 2018 recipient of the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will speak on "In Search of the Spirit of the Hive: a 30-Year Quest"--at 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 29 in the International House, 10 College Park, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

They did it! Again!
The incredible University of California Linnaean Games Team, comprised of graduate students from UC Davis and UC Berkeley, won the national championship at the popular and highly competitive Linnaean Games hosted this week at the...

Gamemaster Deane Jorgensen (far left), research scientist at Sygenta, and ESA president Michael Parrella (far right), dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Idaho, flank the national Linnaean Games Team champions. In the center (from left) are Emily Bick, Brendon Boudinot, captain Ralph Washington Jr., Zachary Griebenow and Jill Oberski. Parrella is a former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.(Joe Rominiecki Photo)

Gamemaster Deane Jorgensen (far left), research scientist at Sygenta, and ESA president Michael Parrella (far right), dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Idaho, flank the national Linnaean Games Team champions. In the center (from left) are Emily Bick, Brendon Boudinot, captain Ralph Washington Jr., Zachary Griebenow and Jill Oberski. Parrella is a former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Joe Rominiecki Photo)

Paradise isn't.
It was, though.
And it will be again when it's rebuilt.
#ParadiseStrong.
The raging inferno known as "Camp Fire" that started Nov. 8 on Camp Creek Road, near Pulga, Butte County, California, ranks as the deadliest and most destructive...

Entomologist Brennen Dyer, shown here at work at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, lost it all in the Paradise inferno known as Camp Fire. His supervisor, Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and UC Davis professor of entomology, encouraged him to set up a gofundme account.

Entomologist Brennen Dyer, shown here at work at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, lost it all in the Paradise inferno known as Camp Fire. His supervisor, Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and UC Davis professor of entomology, encouraged him to set up a gofundme account.